Chapter 3- An awkward silence

As they sat in the cruiser, drinking their coffee and doing nothing but listen to the deafening silence of their radio Andy's mind was racing. She found it quite odd that Gail had hardly said a word to her throughout their entire shift, practically over now.

"Are you okay Gail? You haven't spoken to me all day. Look, I know were maybe not the greatest of friends and all but honestly, seven hours of the cold shoulder takes a toll on someone."

Gail turned, a little shocked that Andy had initiated the conversation, she was at a loss for words. The truth was that Gail wasn't okay, her head was pounding and her stomach had been riddled with knots ever since leaving the barn. Not that sitting in a stuffy cruiser all day helped her symptoms, but she was fairly certain that this was a feeling Tylenol couldn't cure. Gail's entire body was racked with guilt. Looking over at the girl beside her, who was currently expressing a genuinely concerned look , Gail felt a twinge of pain radiant through her body as she thought of what needed to be done. Sam had been more then nice to her and now she would repay him by doing this. Not for Andy, but for Sam. She needed to make Andy realize what a mistake she was making by choosing Luke, even the thought of it made her significantly annoyed, idiot. This was unknown territory for Gail, normally when she used her manipulative powers it was not for good. She began to speak, nearly choking on her nervous words as they spluttered out.

"So, I kind of sleep with Sam."

Andy's heart skipped a beat, or maybe it was two. She felt the sudden urge to be sick as her stomach clenched painfully in a tense flex. Her eyes immediately began to sting with unshed tears, her throat beginning to fill with what would surely be an embarrassing gasp for air. Turning to Gail she opened her mouth to speak, releasing the breath she now realized she had been holding, no words escaped her. Her body shouldn't be doing this, she shouldn't be reacting like this, she shouldn't even have been surprised really, she saw them leave The Penny together after all. Her chest was heavy, her heart shouldn't feel as though it had just been stepped on, and her mind certainly should not be flooded with vivid thoughts of the two of them together. She has Luke, and he's perfect, they've never been better, moving in together even, she's really happy. So why this reaction, she was finding it painfully difficult to contain herself. Andy opened her mouth once again, hoping to say something, anything remotely nonchalantly but all that she could muster was one weak word.

"Oh."

Turning away from Gail she blinked feverishly, attempting to re-focus on the road ahead. With everything running through her mind Andy could hardly manage to keep control of the cruiser. An awkward silence filled the car, allowing Andy to focus on her thoughts, realizing that she had unconsciously come to a conclusion on the whole situation. She wasn't mad at Gail, disappointed maybe, but could she really blame her? No. In fact, the amount of jealousy that she was feeling towards the gorgeous blonde sitting beside her was confusing Andy that much more. She wasn't even mad at Sam, he was a single man and he was aloud to do as he so chose but for the first time since she had met him, Sam had let her down, and that chilled her to the bone. She needed to know why, to understand, she was positive that Gail's explanation wouldn't make sense to her but she needed to ask. You shouldn't care Andy McNally, you shouldn't care, its none of your business. You and Sam are nothing, because its you and Luke, you made your decision. Maybe if she continued to repeat the words in her mind she might actually start to believe it. Thankfully Gail chose to interrupt her confused thoughts before things got out of hand.

" Andy, the look on your face is breaking my heart, and what your obviously feeling right now should be telling you enough. I shouldn't have to explain this, but I'm going too anyways. You're not happy with Luke, or maybe you are I don't know, but I highly suspect you aren't. You settled to fast for something good, and now you're completely ignoring the opportunity to have something…Someone amazing, and you don't even see it. Just open your eyes Andy, please. Sam has had your back from day one, he's been the one there through everything and you think it's okay to treat him like he's disposable. How long do you think he's going to wait for you to come to your senses and finally realize that the two of you belong together. It so obvious to everyone except you. I don't know what your afraid of, maybe it's getting hurt, or maybe it's admitting to how you really feel, but you need to do this. You owe it to yourself, and Jesus Andy you more then owe it to Sam. That man is painfully in love with you and you know it. You can't let someone like him just slip away, you'll regret it more then you know."

There, she had done it. Gail held her gaze steadily on Andy's face, now wet with tears, she saw a glimmer of hope as her thin lips broke into a fragile smile.

"Gail, thank you. I know it took a lot for you to say all of that, and I just want you to know how much I appreciate it. I made up my decision before you had even begun to explain. I've been lying to myself and everyone else for too long. It took you to put what had been right in front of me this entire time into perspective. Thank you… And Gail, it's not to late to fix things with Diaz, he's more patient then you know."

Gail could hardly understand Andy's words through her hard sobs, but her ears had without a doubt clearly heard her last sentence. Maybe her and Andy understood one another more then she had come to believe.

"You're welcome, but look, this stays between us okay. I can't have anyone else knowing that I have a sensitive side. "

With the sound of quiet laughter filling the cruiser as they pulled into the barn each of the ladies were busy with their own thoughts. Both were thankful for the day to be over, both anticipating a much needed shower and both already making plans to set things straight.